pruaus marching band
by sophiakuso
Summary: roderich hears some gossip about the school band asking for more members and he asks his friends about it. plus, what is wrong with gilbert and why on earth was he limping? au!gakuen!hetalia. human names used. rating may be changed later but rated T for now. ((ps-didn't mean to portray any orchestra members or band members badly in this fic it's strictly for shipping purposes "))
1. Chapter 1

Roderich walked into the orchestra room and got out his violin like every other morning. His day started and ended with music, as he preferred it, with orchestra and piano practice. As other orchestra members filed into the room Roderich warmed up his fingers for class. He, of course, was first chair violinist and he took great pride in that fact. He was considered a musical prodigy in orchestra, playing only the hardest solos and pieces of music ever written for violin. The other orchestra students were amazed at his skill and the teacher consulted him for advice whenever it was needed.

He got his music out and was about to work on his part, the hardest part of course, when he heard a group of girls talking.

"Can you believe the band has to do so many games this year?" Said one of the female violists as she tuned her viola.

"Yeah, it's a lot football games. And that's only for marching band. Imagine how many they have to do for pep band when basketball season starts." The group shook their heads and tuned their instruments. The orchestra was a tightly woven group, thus most of them knew everyone's name by heart. They could talk about anything and know that they were safe. "And they have so many members too. Isn't it hard to fit so many people in one room? No wonder they all complain so much about each other." Roderich couldn't help but scoff silently. The band geeks are so uncivilized, he thought. Can't they at least be a little bit more, I don't know, polite to the other members of their little band?

"And they're still looking for more members! As if their classes aren't crowded enough…" said one of the girls as she tuned her instrument. "They have over 80 members in _both_ concert bands and over _100_ in wind ensemble! And they have the _nerve_ to ask for more people?" They all shook their heads again but Roderich's attention drifted to what they had said. The band was looking for more members? Why? They're so big already… he thought. Before he could go over to the girls that were talking the teacher started to do the warm ups and scales.

During lunch Roderich sat by a few of his friends, or rather the only people who were willing to sit with him. Elizaveta got out her lunch while Ludwig attempted to ignore Feliciano's incessant chattering. He decided to ask them about band since all three of them were part of it.

"Eliza?" She looked up from her sandwich to him. "I was just wondering… what's band like?" All three of his friends nearly choked on their lunches.

Elizaveta was the first to talk. "W-why do you want to know?" She said with a nervous smile.

"Well I heard the band was looking for new members and I was just wondering why." He said slowly. He raised an eyebrow as his friends breathed a sigh of relief. "And I was thinking of joining."

At this point Ludwig spit his coffee out onto Feliciano, making the Italian squeak in surprise. They all said in unison, "y-you want to do what?!" He looked at them strangely.

Roderich stared at them for a moment. "Well I was going to just observe until next year since I don't actually know how to play a wind instrument. Just sit in on the marching band practices and listen to the music and watch. I wouldn't actually be joining I just find it interesting." The other three seemed to still be on edge. Ludwig stood up and started to walk away.

"I-I have to go tell bruder something about next class – he forgot to do his homework." He went over to gilbert's table, where he was chatting with Francis and Antonio, and dragged him out of the lunch room hurriedly, gilbert stumbling behind him. After a few minutes they came back, looking calm, but both of them were paler than usual—and that was saying something. When Ludwig returned, Roderich raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. For the rest of the lunch period, they ate and chatted about their usual things.

After lunch, Roderich decided he'd take advantage of the fact that he had his next class with the albino and that he sat next to him every day. When Roderich sat down in his seat, gilbert was working diligently on the homework for tomorrow, which he would let Antonio and Francis copy later. It always amazed Roderich how gilbert was able to get the next day's homework from the teacher before the class started. The brunette turned to the albino next to him and examined his worksheet.

"How on earth do you manage to get the worksheets from the teachers before the beginning of class?" Gilbert smirked.

"I'm just awesome like that, Roddy. You must have learned that that's always the answer by now." Roderich shook his head.

"I should have learned by now, but you know that I can't help but ask. Did you charm our science teacher into giving you that or did you simply ask?" Gilbert shook his head this time.

"Honestly, Roddy, if you're going to ask me questions, then you might as well as me for tutoring. God knows you need it, especially in this particular class."

Roderich's cheeks turned bright red and he huffed. "I-it's not my fault music is easier for me to understand than this chemistry stuff!" Gilbert laughed quietly.

"Hey, Roddy," he said, getting the brunette's attention. "Do me a favor and take notes for me tomorrow. I'm not gonna be here—I have stuff I need to do tomorrow." Roderich nodded his head reluctantly. He often had to take notes for the albino in all their classes because the albino was absent and the only explanation he ever got was 'I have stuff to do.' He nodded.

"I'll give you the notes when you get back, then." He wanted to try to ask but he knew gilbert would cut him off. He tried anyway. "Gilbert, why are you always taking days off—"

"I'd rather not talk about it." There it was: the same response he'd get no matter how many times he'd ask the question. Roderich sighed and gilbert finished the worksheet, getting up to hand it to the teacher, only to get another one that they were doing tomorrow. He sat back down next to Roderich and put the sheet in his backpack, turning towards Roderich afterwards. Roderich took the opportunity to ask another question.

"So what was it Ludwig had to drag you out of the lunch room and tell you so quickly? Did he tell you about my recent interest in band and marching band?" Gilbert couldn't help but laugh.

"Ja, he told me and he seemed to think that I cared. Why the sudden interest in band, anyway?" Roderich shrugged.

"I heard some violinists talking about it and about how the band was looking for more marching band members. I was curious to see how the band works. I mean, everyone seems so close in band, like everyone knows each other and I was just trying to find out if I could sit in on one of the practices or something." Gilbert shook his head and rested his head on a fist as he leaned his arm on the lab table they shared.

"I wouldn't recommend it for someone like you." Roderich raised an eyebrow at the German, wondering why he would say that. Gilbert sighed. "It's not a place for someone like you. You like classical music. Marching band doesn't do that. Marching band is pop songs and jazz and songs to please the crowd." Roderich kept his eyebrow raised at the German, about to ask how he knew this when the bell rang and class started. The teacher greeted the class and started to write on the board, the class starting to take out their notebooks.

Roderich reluctantly took out his notebook and copied down what was on the board for the day. He glanced at gilbert, who was diligently copying the notes from the board. He wondered again briefly how gilbert knew what went on in marching band. The teacher started talking about chemistry and Roderich sighed. Though he did relatively well in all his classes, his science class was the one class he could not manage to keep a good grade. He took good notes, paid attention in class, did all his homework but could not, for the life of him, keep a decent grade.

It felt like forever had passed before the class finally ended and Roderich and gilbert parted ways until their next class after next period. He walked away from gilbert but looked back and saw quite the strange sight.

Gilbert was limping.


	2. Chapter 2

Roderich walked briskly over to Gilbert, who immediately stopped limping when he had noticed Roderich. The albino grinned widely at the musician, his hand on his stomach absently. "Long time no see, specs. What made you follow me all of a sudden? Couldn't get enough of the awesome me?" Roderich could see that Gilbert was clutching his stomach and his smile was forced. Very forced. Roderich was worried.

"Gilbert, are you okay? You were limping just a moment ago and you're holding your stomach." Gilbert's hand flew to his side, away from his stomach, then to the back of his neck as he stopped walking.

"I was just heading to the nurse's office. I haven't been feeling good the whole day." Roderich knew that from the way Gilbert was heading, he was telling the truth about going to the nurse's office but couldn't figure out what was wrong with the albino. Roderich placed his hand on gilbert's forearm and squeezed lightly.

"Well, get well soon. Otherwise your grades will plummet." He and Gilbert both gave the other a small smile, then nodded at each other and walked separate ways once more.

Roderich did not see Gilbert in their next class together.

* * *

Gilbert limped to the nurse's office, successfully hiding his limp from other students who didn't pay attention, which was almost all the students at their school. Once in the nurse's office a nurse came up to him and asked if he wanted to lie down, for he was well-known to all the nurses in the school. He had frequented the nurse's office since he started school, but he would never admit it. He nodded at the nurse and he was led to the room where the spare bed was, reserved specially for him. He laid down on the bed and curled up in a ball, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he shut his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the immense pain. The bell rang and Gilbert groaned quietly at the fact that he was, yet again, missing class and he was sure the nurses would contact his parents and brother and tell them that he needed to go home or to the hospital. He groaned again, as he heard a nurse pick up one of the old corded phones and punch in the familiar number of his parents.

He heard the nurses outside taking pity on him.

"That poor boy,"

"He comes in here almost every day, poor Gil,"

"Yeah, it's a wonder how he's even passing his classes—and with straight A's no less!"

"He only passes because he spends his time in the hospital doing his homework and-"

"Shh! Do you want him to know we know about everything? His parents said not to talk about it within a two room radius of him—he has uncanny hearing and can probably hear us right now!"

Well they were right: he could definitely hear them, even though the door was closed between him and the main nurses' office. A nurse came in and shut the door behind her, a small bag in her hands. She smiled sweetly at him as he shook, a thin sheen of sweat starting on his forehead. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, making him turn his pain consumed crimson eyes to her. "Dear, we just called your parents and notified your brother. You're going to go home and then straight to the hospital. The nurse's heart clenched at the sight of his face turning from panicked to sad to pained again before he nodded. She held up the small bag in her hands. "I'm going to give you something to dull the pain, okay?" He nodded slightly as he lifted a shaky hand towards her. She took his wrist and took out a large looking but familiar needle. She stuck the needle into his upper arm and pushed down the plunger of the needle, emptying its contents into his arm and to his bloodstream. He sighed as the needle was pulled out from his arm and let the arm wrap itself back around his stomach. She gave him a look of concern as she placed another comforting hand on his shoulder. "Dear, would you like me to call the ambulance and tell them to take you to the hospital?" Gilbert had to think about that for a moment. Be embarrassed and be carried out of here on a stretcher or deal with the verdammt pain until the end of the school day with about four more hours till he gets to go home and _then_ go to the hospital? He sighed, shutting his eyes tightly. He shook his head.

The nurse held back a sigh and nodded. "Alright, sweetie, but don't be afraid to yell if you want me to get the ambulance to hurry up if you need." He nodded minutely and she left him to himself. His eyes felt hot with tears that threatened to spill from his tightly shut eyes. His grip on his stomach was that of death—he wasn't letting go until he got to the hospital or until the pain lessened. He forced himself to think of something else in the meantime. His thoughts turned to the person who haunted his dreams when his pain was at its worst: Roderich Edelstein. He managed to smile through his pain as he thought of the stuffy musician and his sudden interest in marching band. He thought of when he got home and how Mo would react to him—would he start barking and alert his family something was wrong? The dog was always alerting them when Gilbert was in pain or when his medical condition was going to act up. He closed his eyes again and decided he needed to sleep for the rest of the day until he got to the hospital. After a moment of trying to bare the pain, the medicine the nurse had given him had started to take effect and he started to feel exhausted. He fell asleep within seconds in the brightly lit, white room, his last thoughts before unconsciousness being of the musician and his sudden obsession with marching band.

* * *

Roderich sat quietly in his last period—study hall, which meant he got to go to a practice room and practice piano for the remainder of the day. He couldn't bring himself to play anything, though. Not after Gilbert had been absent for the rest of the day in all of their shared classes. He had taken notes for the German, as he usually did for the albino even when he was absent unexpectedly. He slumped on the piano bench as he worried about the tall white-blonde. The albino had been his crush ever since they had entered high school, though they had known each other as kids. He couldn't stop thinking of the taller man since freshman year—Gilbert was his muse when it came to composing. If he needed to compose something, he'd always think of the self-proclaimed 'Prussian.' He sighed and closed the piano lid as he looked at his watch. It was almost the end of the period and he packed up his stuff in his backpack when he heard a siren. Not just any siren, an ambulance siren. He wondered what poor soul had to go to the hospital and wandered down to the nurse's office to see and was quite shocked at the sight before him. His eyes widened as he saw his crush, Gilbert Beilschmidt, being lifted onto a stretcher, a plastic mask over his mouth and nose and an I.V. in his arm. The albino's face contorted with pain. He ran forward towards the German and bent over the pained form of the taller male, only to get shoved back by the paramedics.

He called out to the other frantically. "Gilbert! Gilbert! What's happened? Gilbert! Gilbert!" He called again and again but the albino didn't seem to hear him. The white-haired male was rolled out of the building into the ambulance and off to the hospital. The final bell rang and school was out for the day.

Roderich was left standing there wondering. What happened? Was Gilbert sick? Or injured? He suddenly remembered the German's slight limp from earlier. His eyes widened and he rushed into the nurse's office. He had to get some answers before he went to go visit the hospital.


End file.
